Newsroom
The Republic of Cyprus broke a new record on Thursday after 104 new coronavirus cases were confirmed, with authorities already fearing the worse as chains of infection are out of control.
According to the health ministry, 93 cases were initially reported on Thursday based on information from the coronavirus task force out of 3877 lab tests. But later in the evening, 11 more cases were detected in private labs, bringing the total in the Republic to 2285 cases since the outbreak. It was the first time ever that over a hundred cases were detected in one day.
Health officials pointed out that contact tracing methods were no longer as effective as in the past, citing larger numbers of infected individuals within clusters, making it impossible to put in effect protocols such as calling people up, isolating them, and even monitoring compliance in suspected carriers.
Health officials pointed out that bigger clusters make it impossible to apply protocols such as calling people up, isolating them, and even monitoring compliance in suspected carriers
Reports also said some people who tested positive or were contacts of confirmed carriers were refusing to reveal to authorities their contacts, making the tracing task more difficult.
President Nicos Anastasiades took to Twitter after officials said the increase in the number of confirmed cases was “particularly worrying.”
“I call on all my fellow citizens, once again we are required to show our strength, we have to strictly comply with health measures and wear our masks so that we can protect our families, our loved ones, but also ourselves,” the president said.
In the north, three new cases were detected out of 1901 tests, with Turkish Cypriot authorities reporting so far 819 confirmed cases from the beginning of the outbreak.
Reports also said officials in the north have advised people not to cross into the south for unnecessary reasons, citing the situation in the Republic of Cyprus.
